Francillon Cakes

These are prepared with one pound of peeled sweet almonds, fourteen ounces of clarified butter kneaded with twenty ounces of vanilla sugar (No. 3165), also four and a half ounces of flour, two ounces of fecula, ten or twelve egg-yolks, seven or eight beaten whites, and a grain of salt. Pound the almonds with one egg-white, dilute with a glassful of good milk, and pass through a sieve; put the butter into a vessel, and with a spoon beat in the eggs, one at a time. When the whole is creamy mix in the sugar, the almonds, the beaten whites, and the sifted flour and fecula. Line a thin raised-edge baking sheet with sweet paste (No. 136), pour in the preparation, smooth nicely and bake in a slack oven; when unmolded and cold brush apricot marmalade (No. 3675) over the top, and cut it into small cakes without separating the pieces; ice the surface with kirsch icing (No. 102), and detach from each other only when this becomes dry, then dress.